Latch



L. W. HOLLAND.

LATCH- APPL|CATION F ILED MAY 20' I920- Patented July 5, 1921. 2SHEETS-SHEET I mum:

ATTORNEYS L. W. HOLLAND.

LATCH. APPLICATION FILED MAY 20, I920.

Patented July 5, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 w H E V///////////l// u l LUTHER'WATSON HOLLAND, OFPLEASANT HILL, MISSOURI.

LATCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 5, 1921.

Application filed May 20, 1920. Serial No. 382,946.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LUTHER lVpHoLLAND, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Pleasant Hill, in the county of Cass and State ofMissouri, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Latches, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact descri tion.

1 y invention relates to improvements in latches, and it consists in thecombinations, constructions and arrangements herein described andclaimed.

An object of my invention is to provide an improvement over that form oflatch set forth in my pending application, Serial no. 182,410, filedJuly 25, 1917.

In said application a latch is disclosed having a bell-crank lever, oneend of which is formed into a latch plate and is arran ed to enterbetween a latching lug carried by a strike plate, which enters anopening in the casing, and one wall of the casing. I have found that inthe operation of the latch mentioned in the aforesaid application, theedge of the bell-crank lever is apt to wear. Furthermore, it must beraised against the tension of the spring whenever the door is closed.This may necessitate slamming the door.

An object of the present invention is to obviate the necessity ofslamming the door in order to insure its latching. In overcoming thisobjection, I make use of a slidable latching dog which projects normallyin such a position that it may be engaged by the latching lug so thatthe weight of the dog alone is raised prior to the engagement of thelatch to hold the door closed.

A further object of my invention is to provide a latching dog which maybe made thicker than the'bell-crank lever, so that if the latch is puton slightly out of aline- 111g dog 16 having a' cut-away portion 17 in:which the endof the arm 10 of the bellment with the lug on the strikeplate, it will still catch.

A further object of my invention is to provide a removable latching dogwhich may be case-hardened, thereby prolonging the life of the latch.

Other objects and advantages will appear in the following specification,and the novel features of the invention will be particu larly pointedout in the appended claims.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming partof this ap plication, in which F lgure 1 is an inside face view of thelatch in its closed position,

F1g. 21s a section along the line 2T2 of Fig. l, a

3 is a top edge view,

Fig. 4:. is a view similar to-Fig. 1 and showing the latch. open,,

Fig. 5 is a section along the line 5-5 of Fig. 4, and

Fig. 6 is an isometric view of a portion of the strike plate and casing,

Fig. '7 is an end elevation of the lock.

In carrylng out my invention, I provide a metal frame 1 which has oneside thereof bent up to form a flange 2. At 3 I have shown arectangularcut-away portion having a portion 4 bent up to form a strengtheningflange. The opening 3 registers with an opening 5 in the flange 2, ofthe shape shown in the drawings.

Struck up from the plate 1 are are-shaped flanges 6 and 7 formingjournalmembers for the circular portion 8 of the bell-cranlc lever. One arm 9ofthe bell-crank lever constitutes a handle, and the other arm 10extends toward the flange 2, as shown in the drawings. The circularportion 8 of the bell-crank lever is preferably provided with a squareopening 11 arranged to receive the squared shank of a knob 37. Thebell-crank lever is also provided with an arc-shaped slot 12. A circularcap 13 is provided which has flanges let arranged to enter correspondingopenings in the plate 1, the flange being upset or turned back so tosecure the cap to the plate. A flange 15 enters the arc-shaped opening12 in the bell-crank lever to limit the movement of a the lever ineither direction.

Mounted to slide on theplate 1 is a latchthe dog 16 is beveled, as shownat 16, and

is-also rounded fora purpose explained later. A guide housing 18 isprovidedfor the latching dog 16, this guide housing hat-' ing lugs orflanges 18? arranged to enter a corresponding opening in the flange 2,these flanges or lugs being upset to secure the housing to the flange 2.

Similar lugs or flanges 19" enter openings in the plate 1 and aresecured to the plate, The housing .1s slotted as shown at 20 to permitthe arm 1-) of the bell-crank lever to move freely.

A detent 21 of the shape shown in the I drawings is provided withlaterally "bent spring resting on the detent 21. A similar spring 27 istastenedtothe. plate 1 at 28, the tree end of the springbearing on thearm 10 of the bell-crank lever.

From the foregoing description-of the various parts of the device, theoperation thereof may be readily understood. The strike plate 29 hasformed thereon a latching lug 30 and is secured to the door frame. Letus assume that the door is open. The latching dog 16has its-end 16?projecting slightlybelowthe-upper edge of the opening 3 for an eighthofan-inch or so. It will be observed that the bell-cranklever is held bythe shoulder 2% oi? the detent. lYhen the door isclosed, thelatching'lug enters the openings 3 and 5 and engages the latching dog,pushing the latter upwardly. Now when the extension 22 of the detentengages the strike plate, it will push the detent inwardly against thetension of the spring 26 until it clears the arm 10 of the bell-cranklever, whereupon, the latter will force the latching dog 16 into thespace 31 between the latching lug 30 and the inner'f ace of the plate 1,thus holding the door securely to the frame.

When it is desired to openthe door, the handle 9 is pulled. The arm 10of the bell 'crank lever will engage the latehingdog 16 or"alinement,the latching dog WllhStlll'BIb gage the latching lug "30,which it might not do if .it were made of thin material.

When the door is first closed, the latching' dog-is lifted by thelatching lug 30, not

against its own weight, whichisnegligible, slnce the pI'OV1S1011 of thecut-away Y'PQIUOII 17in the dog permits the upward-movement of thelatter independently of the lever arm 10.

A flange 15 on the cap 13, which projects through the slot 12 in thelever, limits the movementof the lever in both directions. This cap isprovidedwith a central open- 35 through which a shank 36 of a knob 37may project, the shank 35 entering the s piared opening 11 in the lever,so that the latter may be operated either by the handle orbyturning theknob 37. The cap 13 serves a double purpose. It is secured to the casingwall outside of the flanges 6, so that it does not interfere: with themovement of the lever, but it has a portion which overlies the circularportion of :the lever, thereby preventing thelever from being unseated.The cap also obviates the necessity of a cover, such as that ordinarilyused on latches, thus reducing the expenseinmanurfacturing the device.

AnutfSS fits on thethreaded end of the shank- 36 and is arranged to passthrough the opening 35 in the cap 13 in. close engagement with thecircular portionoi thebellcranklever. This holds'the knob inposition,but iatthe same time permits the bellcrank lever to move freely in itsjournals.

I claim:

1. :The combination with a strike plate having a latching lug, of alatch having a casing provided with an openingarranged .to receivethelug, .a movable latching dog having a portion arranged to enter betweenthe lug'and the casing of the latch, and a movable handle having aportion arranged to engagcsaid latching dog to nioveitout ofengagementwith the lu said dog being '-adapted to moverelatively to saidhandle,

and a spring for forcing said lever into, engagement with the latchingdog.

2. The combination with a door jamb ha"- ing a latching lug, of a doorprovided with alatch, said latch having a casing provided with anopening arranged to receive said latching lug, a slidable dog having aportion arranged to enter between the lug and the casing,'a pivotedlever having a portion arranged to move intoengagement with the latchingdog to force the latter out of engagementwiththe lug, a spring forforcing said lever into engagement with the latching dog,- and a springpressed detent for holding said lever againstthe tension of its springto permit the latching dogsto have a movement independent of-said=lever.

3. The combination with a'door jamb having a latching lug, of a doorprovided'with a latch, said latch havinga casing provided with anopening arranged to receive said I latching lug, a slidable dog having aporagainst'the tension of the spring, but merely tion arranged-to enterbetween the lug and the casing, said dog having a cut-away portion, apivoted lever having a portion arranged to enter the cut-away portion ofthe dog whereby the dog is permitted a movement independent of thelever, a spring arranged to bear on said lever and tending to force thelever into engagement with the dog, a spring pressed detent having aportion adapted to engage the lever to hold the latter against thetension of its spring, and means carried by the detent for releasing thelatter when the door is closed.

4;. The combination with a door jamb having a latching lug, of a doorprovided with a latch, said latch having a casing provided with anopening arranged to receive said latching lug, a slidable dog having aportion arranged to enter between the lug and the casing, said doghaving a cut-away portion, a pivoted lever having a portion arranged toenter the cut-away portion of the dog, whereby the dog is permitted amovement independent of the lever, a spring arranged to bear on saidlever and tending to iiorce the lever into engagement with the dog, aspring pressed detent having a portion adapted to engage the lever tohold the latter against the tension of its spring, an extension carriedby said detent and arranged to project through the casing for engagingthe door jamb to release the detent when the door is closed.

5. The combination with a strike plate having a latching lug, of a latchhaving a casing provided' with an opening, a latching dog slidable onthe casing with respect to said opening, said dog having a beveled lowerend and being provided with a cutaway portion, a lever pivotally mountedon said casing and having one end projecting into the cut-away portionof said dog, a guide housing for said latching dog secured to saidcasing and having a slot to receive the lever, a spring for normallyforcing said lever downwardly, a spring pressed detent arranged toengage said lever to hold the lever against the tension of its spring,said detent having a portion arranged to pass through the casing to theoutside thereof, whereby said detent may be moved to release said lever.

6. In a latch a casing, a lever having a portion formed on the arc of acircle, flanges carried by said casing and forming journals for thecircular portion of the lever, and a cap secured to said casing forholding said j ournaled lever in position.

7. In a latch a casing wall, opposed areshaped flanges carried by saidcasing wall, a lever having a substantially circular portion journaledbetween the opposed arcshaped flanges, and a cap secured to Said casingexteriorly of said arc-shaped flange and having a portion arranged tooverlie the circular portion of the lever to hold the latter inposition.

8. In a latch a casing, a lever having a portion formed on the arc of acircle, flanges carried by said casing and forming journals for thecircular portion of the lever, a cap secured to said casing for holdingsaid journaled lever in position, and a door knob operatively connectedto said lever, said lever and said door knob being disposed on oppositesides of said casing.

9. In a latch a casing wall, opposed areshaped flanges carried by saidcasing wall, a lever having a substantially circular portion journaledbetween the opposed areshaped flanges, a cap secured to said casingexteriorly o'l said arc-shaped flanges and having a portion arranged tooverlie the circular portion of the lever to hold the latter inposition, and a door knob operatively connected to said lever, saidlever and said door knob being disposed on opposite sides of saidcasing.

LUTHER IVATSON HOLLAND.

